Man dies after car hits school bus in Leonardtown

Great Mills High School students on bus unhurt

A car and school bus collided on Route 5 near Whirlwind Road on Friday, and the driver of the car was pronounced dead after he was taken to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital. None of the children on the bus were injured, according to school and police officials.

A man died Friday morning after his car collided with a school bus on Route 5 south of Leonardtown. None of the children on the bus were injured, according to school and police officials.

The sedan was speeding south on Route 5 when it hit a ditch on the southbound shoulder near Whirlwind Road and crossed the highway, striking the side of an oncoming bus, officers said. The car’s driver was ejected at the impact and pronounced dead at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown.

The car driver’s name has not yet been released, pending notification of family.

Nine Great Mills High School students were en route a little after 8 a.m. to the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown when the car collided with the side of the bus, Superintendent Michael Martirano said Friday morning immediately after visiting the scene of the accident.

“They were all OK,” he said of the students. The bus driver, he said, was taken to a hospital to be checked out for what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.

Route 5 between Chingville Road and Whirlwind Road was shut down for hours Friday morning as an accident reconstruction team worked at the scene.

Martirano said a deputy at the scene told him that some of the Forrest center students exited the bus after the collision and began to assist using the bus’s first-aid kit.